A Hong Kong man has admitted to stealing his girlfriend’s credit card to buy himself six iPhones, asking to meet her parents, then burgling their home. (Ghosting on her parents was also pretty rotten, but that pales in comparison.)
The defendant, Chan Kai-ming, pleaded guilty to one count of theft, three counts of obtaining property by deception, and one count of burglary at District Court yesterday, Oriental Daily reports.
Chan, 22, met his girlfriend, a 28-year-old real estate agent surnamed Yip, through WeChat in January. Soon after they began dating, Chan reportedly stole Yip’s credit card while she was in the shower and bought himself two iPhones.
Thinking that her card had been stolen by a stranger, the 28-year-old asked the bank to issue her a new one. Two days later, Chan reportedly stole her new credit card, bought himself four more iPhones, then replaced it to avoid suspicion.
On Feb. 15, the 22-year-old arranged to have dinner with Yip’s family under the pretense of meeting her parents for the first time. However, they didn’t get to have an awkward conversation about Chan’s intentions as he never turned up to the dinner, instead choosing to steal his girlfriend’s house key and break into her family home in Tai Koo Shing.
He took four watches, a ring, and 18 lai see packets, worth a total of around HKD30,000. The looting love rat then rang his girlfriend and broke up with her over the phone, according to Apple Daily.
After the family reported the burglary to the police, Yip reportedly refused to believe that Chan was to blame until she saw CCTV footage of him leaving the building when he was supposed to be wining and dining her parents.
Chan was later arrested a month later when one of Yip’s friends saw him partying in Lan Kwai Fong. He will be sentenced next month, pending background reports.
It’s been a tough few months for Hong Kong women trying their hand at online dating, what with one woman being conned out of her family’s entire life savings, and another allegedly losing HKD22.58 million to her paramour, an already-married fortuneteller.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been updated.
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